


Don't Call Me Katie

by SuspiciousPenguin



Series: The Bird Nerds and the Bee's Knees [6]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Young Avengers
Genre: Age Difference, Caught in the Act, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Deaf, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Past Clint Barton/Bobbi Morse, Protective Kate Bishop, Referenced Clint Barton/Jessica Drew, hawkeye squared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:09:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4628178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuspiciousPenguin/pseuds/SuspiciousPenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bobbi walks in on Clint and Kate. Oops. At least the ladies get to have a long chat about relationships and life.</p><p>Immediate sequel to Easy like Sunday Morning, but can be read as a standalone fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Call Me Katie

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This concludes the arc of my series that is inspired by Anna's prompt of Kate wanting to not be seen as a child anymore. I've had a lot of fun writing these, and I really hope you enjoyed them all :) As always, criticism, comments, and ideas are totally appreciated!! Have a great day!

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Okay, this looked bad. Clint had been in a lot of embarrassing situations in his life, but having his ex-wife walk in on him while his hand was down the pants of his young protégée and he was kissing her passionately was probably at least in the top ten.

“Clint Barton, you are unbelievable.”

Maybe even the top five.

“Um, hey, Bobbi.” Clint cleared his throat and removed his hand from Kate’s pants, the younger Hawkeye still frozen in shock. “What are you, uh, doing here?”

“I _was_ going to drop off some details about your next S.H.I.E.L.D. mission,” Bobbi stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind her, “but now,” she threw a file folder down onto the coffee table, “I want to know what the _hell_ is going on.” She scoffed scornfully and shook her head in disgust. “What, messing with grown women’s emotions wasn’t enough for you, so you had to ruin a child’s life instead?”

“I’m not a child,” Kate interjected. The older two looked at her. “Sorry. But I’m not. I’m 21 years old.”

“Oh, she’s 21.” Bobbi rolled her eyes. “ _That’s_ a relief; I thought she might be _way too young for you_.”

“Almost 22.” Kate practically whispered.

“Clint, what is _wrong_ with you?” The Mockingbird continued to rage. “Did you even break up with Jessica first?”

“Of course he did,” Kate snapped, as indignantly as was possible for someone who had just been caught with a man a number of years older than her by said man’s ex-wife. “R-Right, Clint?”

The older Hawkeye turned around to pour himself some coffee. Kate grabbed his shoulder and turned him back. “Right, Clint?”

“I mean…” Clint rubbed the back of his neck. “We didn’t… _Technically_ break up, but…”

“Oh my god.” Bobbi shook her head. “I’m calling her.”

“Bobbi, come on…” Clint begged.

“You’re still _with_ her?” Kate couldn’t have wiped the look of betrayal off her face if she tried. “Clint, we’ve been together for _two months_.”

“ _Two months_?” Bobbi repeated incredulously. “What, were you going to tell her over Thanksgiving or something? ‘Hey, Jess, pass the stuffing, and oh, by the way, _I’m sleeping with my sidekick_.’”

“She’s not my sidekick!” Clint attempted to defend himself.

“Shut up!” Kate snapped at him before turning back to Bobbi. “I’m not his sidekick! If anything, he’s _my_ sidekick.”

“Go home, Kate.” Bobbi glared at her with a steely gaze. “Let the adults talk.”

Clint cut in before Kate could defend herself. “Could you, y’know, _not_ talk to her like that? She’s kind of a part of this, too.”

“Stop!” Kate yelled. “Stop trying to… I don’t know, protect me! Or, you know, whatever you’re doing.” She stormed over to the coffee table, where Clint’s hearing aids were still sitting and waiting for him, and shoved them into her mentor’s hands. “Go call Jess. Right now.”

Clint opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it and took the hearing aids from his protégée/girlfriend with a sigh of defeat. “That’s probably a good idea.”

The women in the room shook their heads as Clint headed into the bedroom (stopping in the bathroom to wash his hands first) for some privacy. Kate peeked over at Bobbi, trying to figure out what the older hero was thinking, only to quickly turn away and start washing the dishes in the sink when she saw that Bobbi was already staring at her.

The pair kept up their awkward silence for a moment, both hearing Clint on the phone in the next room and both actively choosing to ignore it.

Finally, Bobbi broke the silence. “Listen, kid…”

Kate stopped her before she could get any farther. “Bobbi – Ms. Morse, sorry, I – I know what you’re going to tell me. I know you’re going to say that I should… Make better choices and be with someone who… Someone who’s not going to let me down and make me want to leave.” She cleared her throat and continued to busy herself with the dirty dishes, her arms soaked to the elbow in soapy dishwater. “I know you’re going to say I’m too young for him, and I should just… Move on with my life, before he can hurt me, but… I feel like I’m a better person when I’m around him. He brings out parts of me that I wouldn’t have even known existed if I didn’t hang around with him. He may be a wreck, but he’s his _own_ wreck. He’s… Independent and streetwise, and he… He knows how to handle himself. I mean, you were in love with him once, too, right? You know how… Caring, and… Strong-willed he can be? When he wants to be?”

Bobbi sighed wearily and sat down on the couch. “Kate…” She rubbed her forehead with one hand and patted the cushion next to her with the other. “Come sit down.”

The young archer had to stop herself from checking to see if there was someone else in the room who Bobbi might have been talking to. She slowly walked over and sat down on the edge of the couch cushion, her body rigid and her posture perfect. She braced herself for the lecture she was sure she was about to get.

“Listen, Kate.” Bobbi began. “I remember what it’s like to be young. He and I weren’t that much older than you are when we ran away together. We thought we were in love. But sometimes… Things change.” She turned toward Kate and squeezed her small, bony shoulder. “You think you know what you want, but you wake up one morning and realize that the goofy, happy-go-lucky guy you fell in love with is really just a ticking time bomb full of self-doubt and destructive tendencies, and you’re in the blast zone. I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, but you have to be _careful_. You don’t want to waste your prime years on someone who’s not going to stick it out.”

“You’re wrong.” Kate whispered.

“What was that?”

“You’re wrong,” the Young Avenger repeated, firmly this time. “He’s changing. When I first met him, he was… Strong and confident. And a total dweeb.”

“The last part’s accurate.” Bobbi nodded.

“I’m not saying it’s not.” Kate admitted. “I’m just saying that… I’m starting to see some of that coming back, since the thing with the tracksuit mafia guys. He’s happy again, and… And I’m happy and I’m _not a child, Bobbi._ If this whole thing with Clint is a mistake, it’s my mistake to make. But he makes me happy, and I kind of… Need him more than I will _ever_ admit to that smug asshole.”

Bobbi chuckled sadly. “You two really are something, aren’t you? The rich girl from a fancy family who wants to be independent and the orphan carnie who wants to belong to something. Or someone.” She sighed again, picking up her bag as she stood up. “You’re going to make your own decisions, but take it from someone who has been there: Clint is a very hard person to love. Be careful, Kate. You’re too young to throw your whole life away on anyone.”

Kate joined Bobbi in standing and nodded, her lips a tight line. “I appreciate the concern. But I love him, and nothing you can say is going to change that.”

“I understand.” Bobbi sent a small, wistful smile Kate’s way as she reopened the door. “Take care of yourself, Katie.” And with that, she was gone. Kate stood still in the middle of the room, processing what had just happened. She jumped when Clint softly broke the silence.

“You okay out there, Hawkeye?”

Kate turned toward her mentor/boyfriend, nodding her head slowly. “Doing great, Hawkeye. How did it go with Jess?”

“She…” Clint scratched at the back of his neck as he tried to think of an appropriate description. “Understands. We’ve basically been broken up all this time anyway. Ever since the thing with Penny. We just… Never really talked about it until now.”

“So everything’s okay now?” Kate asked, tugging at the hem of her shirt. “You don’t have to worry about hurting her?”

“It’ll be fine.” Clint nodded and held his arms out to invite Kate into a hug. “Come here, Hawkeye.”

Kate did as requested and allowed him to wrap his big, strong arms around her slender frame. She squeezed back around his lower waist and breathed in his scent.

“So you love me, huh?” Clint teased after a moment, a smile breaking out on his face.

Kate turned a bright shade of red. “Shut up,” she shouted into his shirt. “You’re an asshole.”

“Love you, too, Katie.” Clint smirked and placed a kiss on top of her head. “So what do you say we pick this up where we left off?”

Kate chose to reply in the form of a kiss to his lips as she pushed him toward the bedroom. They continued to make out, tasting each other on their tongues, holding each other in a firm embrace.

“Oh, Clint, one last thing?”

“Sure, what is it, girly-girl?”

Kate pulled back, placing her hands on Clint’s biceps as she looked him dead in the eye. She watched his gaze fall to her lips, wanting to be absolutely sure he got what she was saying.

“Don’t call me Katie.”


End file.
